Memories tend to fade, the aspects that are so pleasant to us we retain, yet the reality portions continue to age, and, when we check back, show their age.

In a move to make new memories, Kathy and I decided upon a trip to Manitoulin Island, the largest fresh water island in the world. After consulting weather patterns from the North Lake Huron weather buoy as well as North American satellite and ground tracking radar, we chose Tuesday and Wednesday as our window to travel. We wanted to catch the 11:20 AM ferry to Manitoulin Island. To do so we left Little Pike Bay early in the morning, drove to Tobermory, got our tickets and parked "Big Red" in line. We walked to "Craigies" for breakfast. 

We sat down in the sun porch next to a couple from Toronto. She had been coming to Tobermory as a little girl, and now returns for a reminiscent tour. He retired as City Manager for the City of Toronto two years ago, and they have been traveling back and forth to a cottage his parents had in the Mescoka area, North of Toronto.We chatted for an hour or so until the Chi- Cheeman's whistle blew, signaling ready for boarding.

As forecasted, the barometric pressure was high,  the winds were calm, the seas were mirror flat. The ship spun around and we headed at 16 knots North by Northwest to South Bay Mouth on Manitoulin Is. From Tobermory we pass a number or uninhabited islands, part of the Five Fathoms National Park, the last island is Cove Island and its Cove Island Lighthouse. The figurine of the Cove Island Lighthouse that Bob and Kathy V brought for the cottage, is identical to this picture except for the 150 years sign. Seagulls flew to the top decks and matched precisely the ship's speed, appearing motionless as they glided upon the air currents created by the ship. An hour and 45 minutes later, we docked at South Bay Mouth, picked up route 6 again heading North; a few miles out of town we turned Left towards Providence Bay and its local Chamber of Commerce published literature "awe inspiring sand beach"; really, not any better than our own Bruce Peninsula's "Sandy Beach." By traveling roads, we saw lots and lots of trees as we headed West to Meldrum Bay, at the most Westward portion of the Island. Before stopping for the night, we visited the Missisagi Lighthouse, where, on the road we saw a large black bear. He/she looked at us, paused, then loped off into the bush. "We see a lot of them around here, and they generally leave people alone" so said the caretakers of the lighthouse museum. Hmmm "generally."

Meldrum Bay B&B was charming. We had dinner with a couple from Wisconsin whom we had met on the ferry and at Providence Bay, who were completing a tour from Madison, to Toronto via the Northern Lake Huron/Georgian Bay route. After dinner, Kathy and I hot-tubbed it for an hour; relaxed, then trundled off to bed.  

Wednesday we awakened early to await our 9:00 AM Continental breakfast, which we shared with the Wisconsin couple, then headed, through the allies of tree forests, to Gore Bay. Another lighthouse, met an artist from Atlanta Ga. and his traveling companion, more pictures then followed the North Channel Eastward to Little Current. A trip across and back over the "swing bridge," ice cream, the obligatory gift shop stop where we found surprise surprise something we both like for our home in East Lansing. We head South along route 6, stopping at 10 Mile Point and its scenic overlook, purchased home-made soap, back onto Rt. 6 to Manitowaning, the berth of the now retired Tobermory to South Bay Mouth coal fired ferry: SS Norisle. 

We have a 1937 view of the SS Norisle at the cottage, a print of a painting by Kent Wilkens, "Norisle coming into the coal pile: Tobermory".

Now she is in need of a major restoration; hence, the reality of time moving on. My remembrance of traveling on the Norisle are of coming back from South Bay Mouth after Bill and I had canoed to Manitoulin Island. The ship was loaded from the Starboard side, automobiles were jacked up and swung into a lineup and secured. Quite a difference now with the easy roll-on roll-off of the Chi-Cheeman. Bill and I carried the canoe onto the Norisle, then headed aft to talk with the crew who had quarters in the stern, port holes open, and black smoke wafting inside when the wind swung astern.  I remember greeting my mother in Tobermory, I had slung my arm in a sling to appear as if I were injured, she, so grateful to see me alive, either did not notice or care as she hugged me tightly. My other trips to Manitoulin Island have been by water, this one, 300 miles in all, by land and by sea, made new memories for both Kathy and myself.

I am eating home made ice cream that Kathy has made from 35% whipping cream. It is so creamy and smooth, I could literally eat a gallon. The sun is setting over the distant reef, an orange fireball, radiant and sitting upon the horizon. Night draws close to a day of activity, getting Bounty ready for the water. She is out of her boathouse, I have added gas tanks and filled the underwater gear with "hydrolube", loaded the life jackets, dock lines, anchor and lines, flares, fire extinguishers, two paddles, and horn. I had to put in the new battery box with its tie-downs, added a handle to the bilge cover so that we can open the petcock  to let the water out, and rehang the pike pole holders.  This endeavor required most of the afternoon. Pictures on Kathy's blog tell the story more. If the weather is anything like today, tomorrow I will powder myself and slip on the wet suit, launch Bounty and attach her new mooring system to the standing anchor. Then I will go for a ride, way out into the Lake, maybe to the red marker off Lyle Island, re-installed by the Coast Guard buoy tender today. As the night progresses into blackness, and coldness, the cottage remains warm and comfortable. Yes we are getting into a rhythm of "cottage country."

In case you didn't notice it, there has been a lot of work done since we got here: ie, clearing the front trees to expand our lake view. Trees and scrubs are strewn all over the beach, although on the other side (lake side) of the remaining trees. Kathy has supervised  these activities with firmness and direction. I have dutifully responded although not with the hop and skip supervisors want.

Look closely at the picture to the right of the cedar and birch trees. You may see many birds, mostly seagulls who are down in the water feasting on dead "fish flies" or as we in the USA say, "Canadian soldiers". These winged insects have mated and then died, and are no bird food. Some ducks and an occasional Canadian goose have been eating the fodder as well.

I have moved most of the boats out of the boat house, but not Bounty yet. I will wait for a sunny calm day, to finish outfitting her and getting her ready for the water. I have yet to attach the all important swivel and chain to the standing anchor as the water temperature is 6 degrees Celsius.  Wet suit or no, the water is still very cold. Diving into that water will take your breath away. Riding in a boat on that cold of water, you want to be bundled up, life jacket on, and calm seas as you have only a few moments to get yourself back into the boat if one should go overboard.

Although the day is sunny and bright, high scattered clouds,  the wind is 25 knots coming from the West South West (on the compass) and we have a fire going in the fireplace most of the day. Chairs are out. Awning and gazebo covers are on, but we linger only a little while before coming back in. So far, we have seen a sailboat off on the horizon. Someone from the Davis's were in wetsuits and windsurfing, but no other adventurer's.

Our days have yet to get a rhythm to them, but we are getting there.

In the house where you were born

As I was writing my Seaway Trail blog, my trip down memory lane brought a flood of thoughts which are really insufficiently documented by the one liner in the Seaway Trail blog. 

Rochester NY was my  first training stop in my Eastward trek post medical school. It is altogether fitting that there is a lighthouse in the picture as a reminder to me of the beacon of that era in our lives.  We brought "Rogue" with us, an L class sloop  28 foot with a 36 foot mast made for racing on Lake Erie circa 1930's, sold to us by Rudy Rosales, stored in his barn way out in Olmstead Falls, Ohio, and we sailed out of the then brand new East 55th street Marina in Cleveland Ohio. We brought Rogue with us to Rochester intending to sail her on Lake Ontario. However, the rigors and the shear fatigue of an every other night internship, 36 hours on and 12 hours off for a whole year, precluded our preparing her for the water: sanding , caulking, painting, varnishing, mending her sails; so she languished in a boat yard on the Genese River. Eventually we took her to Boston, sold her there, never sailing her again. Letting her deteriorate was really like having her wrecked upon a reef; at least, that is how it still feels to me.

Bec, you were born at Strong Memorial Hospital, delivered by Dr. Joe Schibetta, attended in the delivery suite by yours truely, and brought home to 65 Valley Street, a two story townhouse in name only. The white door entrance on the right leads to a stairway up to the 2nd floor; notice the concrete stairs on the right side of the duplex leading to the kitchen. I had purchased a rocking chair for your mother in which to nurse you. That first night you cried and cried, and we new parents fussed and fussed all night. Eventually you settled in, grandparents came and went. We packed our belongings as two months from your birth, we would be in Boston and yet another starting all over again. By the way, there is another duplex to the right of 65 Valley, John something or another, won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the prisoner riot in Attica Prison in upstate NY, all this occurring while we lived in Rochester NY.

There are more vignettes for later blogs.

The Seaway Trail

A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, our story begins. No this is not StarTrek, space the final frontier, rather, my going down memory lane. Kathy and I did not start out on Lake Road, just East of County Line Road near Geneva-On-The-Lake Ohio, but this is where my earliest memories of being "at the Lake" took place. The lake is Lake Erie, the house Grampa Vencl built. A tent was pitched under the shag bark hickory tree in the foreground, and under it we slept while the foundation of cement was poured and a concrete block house rose to its full two stories. Near completion, I remember our family driving in my dad's blue 1941 four door Ford with a load of tar paper roles (Dad was a sales person for Industrial Roofing & Sheet metal) and just before Painsville Ohio, the car's axle broke. Dad called Uncle Fred (my Mom's youngest brother), and he eventually came, picked us up, and drove us to Grandpa & Grandma. The Ford was repaired the next day and Dad arrived with the roofing tar paper so that the house was enclosed. I was 4 years old. When I was 5 years of age, Dad bought mom a 1947 maroon four door Chrysler with "automatic shift" and we took that to Grandma & Grandpa's house on the lake. Look carefully and you will see a single car garage where Grandpa welded shut a hole in the gas tank of the home made tractor of the Hallupka's of Pittsburg Pa. Joining the garage and house is a breezeway where a roasting pan contained hossenfeffer, rabbit that Grandpa had shot with his 12 gauge shotgun (modified stock to accommodate winter clothing), and Grandma had marinating in a sour cream mixture. I remember eating the hossenfeffer, picking the occasional buckshot out of my teeth. You will notice the front door. Just inside, to the immediate left was a round 6 inch cathoray tube television with a magnifying glass to amplify the picture. Programing began at 4 PM. Upstairs was unfinished and each extended family had a bed of their own to sleep. Grandma & Grandpa slept in the bedroom just off the kitchen and living room, next to the North facing screened porch. 

Our journey along the St. Lawrence Seaway Trail actually starts just East of Toledo Ohio on the South shore of Lake Erie. We followed the Erie Circle Route and Ohio Coastal Trail, using National Routes 2 and sometimes 6 to Cleveland, arching South somewhat to 422 to route 44, Ravena Road, North to Punderson State Park; our first night camping. In the morning, in search of a coffee shop for breakfast, we pass through Chardon, finding nothing on the route, then Painsville, again nothing and then National Route 20. There are no good landmarks for me as we drove East. It has been 58 years since I last visited Grandpa & Grandma "at the lake." They had long since moved away into the last home Grandpa built on Willard drive in Geauga County. I did find County Line Road, then Lake Road and Grandpa & Grandma's house. A passing jogger had a quizzical look on her face as we stopped and took our picture. 

Kathy and I drove along Lake Road as it hug the contours of Lake Erie's shoreline until we reached Ashtabula and a no name diner for a late morning breakfast, coffee and conversation; cash only. Along the coast, a detail map will show "Lake Road" goes from County Line Road in Ohio, through Erie Pennsylvania, to Buffalo New York. Our stop in Erie Pa., at the entrance to Presque Isle our campsite was on the sandy shore, was cold because of a 20 knot wind off the Lake. We slept well since we had our propane furnace on which warms Rudy very well. On Presque Isle the next day, we took pictures of lighthouses, of floating summer cottages, one needed a boat to reach; and, I saw the Great Lakes bulk self unloading carrier "Cuyahoga" unloading sand. I had first seen the "Cuyahoga" earlier in May as I was crossing the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron as she was passing under the double arched bridges, as I was heading to Canada to retrieve Bounty.

Along the South coast was Dunkirk, a magnificently maintained lighthouse which we climbed to the top with its 3rd order Frensel lens. Then onto Buffalo, its rust belt of Hamburg and closed and shuttered Bethlehem Steel Co. Tom Erke, a friend from Orange High School, his first job was in the public relations department of Bethlehem Steel Co., explaining "Orange Steam" to the local community, coming from the smoke stacks.

If you discount the 25 cent magnifying viewer, and the sky scape in the background, you will see a picture of Kathy and Rich, standing almost at the very spot that my Dad and Mom stood on their honeymoon trip to Niagara Falls 8 decades ago. Scenes change, people change, and yet, things stay the same. The Seaway Trail took us along the Niagara river to Lake Ontario, Old Fort Niagara, which we will catch the next day as we head for 4 Mile Creek NY State Campground. We camp on the Lake Ontario shore, we can see the skyline of Toronto and Hamilton Ontario across the Lake.

We reversed course a bit, heading into Youngstown NY, coffee, breakfast and Internet, abruptly terminated by spilt coffee onto my Apple G4 laptop computer. I drain, literally drain the coffee from my computer, took out the battery, and we set the computer to dry out over the next 48 hours, which it did, and restarted without a hitch. Old Fort Niagara was followed by a Congressional Earmark highway (starting nowhere and ending no where) into Rochester NY. Rochester has a lighthouse which we found as well as 65 Valley Street along the Genese River where Rebecca you were conceived and brought home in 1973. I an Intern and first year Pediatric Resident at Strong Memorial Hospital. Options for lunch include "Sticky Lips" and "Bay Side". Our coastal journey East includes many lighthouses, some private we can see only at a distance, others ,we can climb and view directly, others, accessible only as in the days of yore, by boat. 

Original source writings confirm the loneliness and isolation of the lighthouse keeper and his family; nine and a half months of the year, for $400 per year pay. Please tell me how bad people have it now.

The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton NY is a highlight for me as I search for Bounty amongst the various buildings. Christ-Craft boats in their many shapes and era's abound, but no Bounty. It will not be until we leave the St. Lawrence Seaway Trail at the Eisenhower Locks and turn South into the Adirondack National Park that I get a hint of the merger of Thompson Boats of Courtland NY with Christ-Craft, for a brief time in 1960 to @ 1962, that I discover Bounty's possible origins. More anon about Bounty.

From a campsite in Old Forge Adirondack where a near strike lightning thunder bolt awaken us as well as the general community we are told the next day, we have visited the Adirondack Natural History Museum to learn about the early formation of our Earth, Glaciation, shallow rooted black spruce trees seen before by us on the Taylor Highway near the Artic Circle in Alaska. Further South to Rome NY, the now shutter and rusted Reever Ware Copper Clad cookware factory, all now made in China. Chamber of Commerce efforts at attracting business and employment to no avail. At a local diner, we hear of people at first moving away, and then returning because of missing family ties: "its hard to be in Northern California for Christmas when your family is in Upstate NY."

We head West towards the 11 Finger Lakes. Cayuga Lake, the Southern shore of which is Ithica NY and Cornell University we reach Taughanock Falls NY State Park. The NY Western County Road 89 passes the NY Chiropractic College, the College of Massage, the College of Nutition, the College of Acupuncture. If we are known by the company we keep, Cornell's reputation is in jeopardy. Kathy and I trek the Falls trail, 3 1/2 miles and 500 feet up and down before heading to Allegheny State Park, via Watkins Glen, Tobia's breakfast restaurant and more county roads, byways, and rural Eastern America. 

We stop in Randolf NY, for the Amish artifacts and find late 19th and early 20th century architecture store fronts, varied, colorful, unique, cobbled together in small town, rural USA. More cobblestone facings. Our destination is Jamestown NY, birthplace of Lucile Ball (I Love Lucy), a museum for she and her husband, Desi Arnez.  2 hours later, we are on the road again, county road 959, then 956, and back onto National Route 6 headed West, through Pymatuning State Park, Chardon Ohio, onto Interstate 90 through Cleveland Ohio, back onto route 2, and camping at East Harbor State Park, next to Marblehead Lighthouse, overlooking Cedar Point on Sandusky Bay.  The next day, and after a lighthouse tour, we head for home, through Toledo. We stop in Ann Arbor at Whole Foods, me holding a McDonald's Chocolate Milkshake cup while wearing my MSU Spartans 2000 Basketball National Champion's tee shirt. I got "looks" but no comments; an occasional smile. We did sign a petition to place the issue of stem cell research onto the November 4th 2008 ballot. 

Our meals were generally at mom and pop diners and eatery's, one extravagant meal at the Boat Yard in Ithica NY, two stops at McDonalds for the whole trip. Many dinners were in Rudy, PB&J on Rye bread from Great Harvest here off Okemos Road in Michigan. Two quarts of 1% milk and V-8 juice.

All in all, a great 10 day trip, comfortable sleeping, lots of seeing rural Americana, rusted industries, yard and trailer trash, farm land and all. Plenty of trees. No foreclosure signs. The sights we saw did not suggest that these people saw their home's equity as a piggy bank in the quest for a economically unsustainable life style.

We can wonder why Hillary connected with these USA citizen.